Deep breathing also calms you down because it forces you to redirect your attention to your body—not the stuff around you that’s stressing you out, says Christina Vestergaard, M.D., M.P.H., a pulmonologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Feeling a little tense? Try this “4-7-8” breathing exercise from Andrew Weil, M.D., founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine: Close your mouth and inhale through your nose for four counts. Hold your breath for seven counts. Then, exhale while mentally counting to eight. Repeat the cycle three more times. (That’ll take you less than 2 minutes.)

Here’s why this works: When you breathe in through your nose, it helps enhance your breath’s calming effects because sensory receptors for the parasympathetic response are located in your nostrils and sinuses, Hartman says.

(Want more cool science you can actually use? Check out The Better Man Project from Men’s Health. It’s jam-packed with more than 2,000 awesome life tips to help you become stronger, happier, and sexier.)

In fact, you might find that you naturally hold your breath sometimes, like when you’re watching TV at night after a hard day’s work. That could be your brain’s way of helping you de-stress.

So give the 4-7-8 technique a shot: It could be like an all-natural chill pill for your body.

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